By the REV. FRANCIS A. SCHAEFFER, Switzerland.
I was in Rome from 30th October to 1st November of this year, 1950. Come with me and observe the most important event in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.
* Rev. F. A. Schaeffer, an American, resident in Switzerland, is connected with the Council of Christian Churches and is a Fundamentalist and strong Protestant. He offered this article for publication and our thanks are due to him.—Editor.
ROME, 30TH OCTOBER—1ST NOVEMBER.
By Monday, 30th October, Rome is filling up even beyond its regular “Holy Year” crowds. Cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, monks, diplomats, great and small of Roman Catholicism, are arriving from all over the world to be present for the Definition of the Dogma of the Assumption of Mary. The actual ceremony will take place on Wednesday, 1st November, but already a large “Mary Congress” is in session. By Monday, thirty-five cardinals and five hundred other leading Roman Catholic dignitaries have arrived.
A special meeting has been held to-day at the Vatican with only the Pope, the cardinals, and the bishops present to take the last formal step before the ceremony on Wednesday. At this meeting the Pope said that the proclamation of this Dogma of the Assumption of Mary will fill the whole Catholic world with unspeakable joy. To the assembled leaders of the Roman Catholic hierarchy he formally declared the steps which have led to this time when the Dogma of the Assumption would be declared. First a study had been made by experts; then a circular letter had been sent to all the bishops. There had been “a wonderful and almost unanimous chorus” that the Dogma should be declared and defined. The Pope then stated, “With the authority which the divine Redeemer transmitted to the Prince of the Apostles and his successors, we have the intention of ordaining and defining the Dogma that Mary, the virgin Mother of God, was assumed body and soul into the glory of heaven.” He continued, “If it is true that the entire Catholic Church cannot deceive or be deceived, the divine Redeemer who is truth itself, having promised the Apostles, ‘And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world,’ it follows that this truth, firmly believed by the holy pastors and by the people, has been revealed by God, and can be defined by our supreme authority.” Then the cardinals present were asked by the Pope, “Is it your good pleasure, venerable brothers, that we proclaim and define, as a Dogma revealed by God, the bodily assumption of the blessed virgin into heaven?” After the vote, the Pope said, “This shows that with one thought and voice we agree . . . There emerges still more clearly what the Holy Catholic Church believes, teaches and desires in this matter . . . On the first of November, the feast of all saints, the radiant brow of the queen of heaven and the beloved Mother of God will be wreathed with new splendour, when, under divine inspiration and assistance, we shall solemnly define and decree her bodily assumption into heaven . . . The blessed virgin Mary, resplendent on her throne as with a new light, stretches forth her maternal arms exhorting them (the faithful) to climb with courage the heights of virtue . . . May the sublime and beloved Mother of God lead back to the unity of the Church all the erring and the wayward . . . May this (the defining of the Dogma) be for all a new incentive to piety towards her.” With this official declaration by the Pope, following the vote of the cardinals, all is now ready for the ceremony on Wednesday.
To get the full flavour of Rome at this time we go now to Santa Maria Maggiore (Saint Mary Major). This is one of the four major basilicas in Rome. It is dedicated to Mary and is called “Mary Major” because it is the largest church in Rome dedicated to her. The customary Holy Year crowds are here plus a multitude more for this special event. The lines of pilgrims form outside the church. Most have their little “Book of the Pilgrim” in their hands to follow the prescribed formula of worship. As they pass through the “Holy Door” most kiss its side posts and some even the threshold. The rich, the poor, the educated, the uneducated, speaking a babble of tongues, planting their lips in an endless succession on the dead material of the door jambs and sill, as though it were the gate to heaven. Hundreds stand in line inside for confession—so many that one kneels ready to be heard on one side of the box while the priest hears one on the other side, so that no time is lost. Crowds under the leadership of priests kneel praying, others are singing, others reading aloud from the Pilgrim Books. The women tell their beads over and over again. A long queue waits to descend under the altar, many finger each statue, each trinket they pass, then kiss their fingers, desiring to show an additional devotion. A trough of money is under the altar; money from many lands is piled high in it. They cross themselves; their lips move through the prayers; there is a feverish haste about it all, to finish here, to get to the other three basilicas, Saint John’s, Saint Paul’s, Saint Peter’s, which they must visit. The priests work hard taking these masses through their rituals. Off to the right there is a chapel; at one side is a glass-sided coffin in which there is a skeleton exposed to view, under a metal death mask, and clothed in the rich robes of his office. Many finger the coffin and then kiss their fingers.
We leave the crowds here and go on to San Pietro in Vincoli (Saint Peter in Chains). This is not one of the major churches, but many come here, for the relic under the altar is a set of chains in a glass case which the Roman Catholic Church teaches are the chains that bound Peter. The people look in awe. It is also worth taking a quick look at the Church of the Capuchins where gaping crowds view, and some touch, the bones of four thousand monks which are exposed in the cellar. A part of these bones is arranged in fanciful designs on the ceilings and walls. This, too, is Rome.
Now to Saint Paul’s. This is outside the walls of Rome. Again there are throngs going in the Holy Door, kissing it as they go. It is the same here as in Santa Maria Maggiore, except it happens here that the diversity of languages especially smites the ear. Prayers and recitations in German clash with Italian, English, French, Spanish, and the languages of even farther lands. In the Benedictine cloister off to one side we go into the small chapel; bones of leaders of the past are enclosed in glass containers. Again they are fingered, and the fingers are lovingly kissed.
Early the next afternoon, Tuesday, we are in place to observe the parade in Mary’s honour. It is to begin at the Church Santa Maria in Aracoeli. While waiting we go up the hundred and twenty-four steps and into the church to view the image San Bambino of Aracoeli (Saint Child of Aracoeli). It is about two feet high, covered with jewels, bracelets, pearl necklaces, watches, pins, and brooches which have been given to it; and on its head is a golden crown which was solemnly put there by the Vatican Chapter in 1897. The pilgrims push each other to get copies of a little card being given out by a monk. This card tells the prayer to be said before the image, for which one hundred days’ indulgence is granted. The card also says that, “The celebrated statue of the Divine Infant is now known, visited and honoured by the whole Catholic world owing to the innumerable favours which the Divine Infant bestows on those who venerate it.”
Now we come down and wait for the parade to start. The hundred and twenty-four steps are soon filled with monks and others of the religious’ orders, clothed in many different colours. There are also many schoolgirls who sing hymns to Maria unceasingly for over two hours. Victor Emmanuel’s great monument which is on our left literally crawls with thousands of people. The streets are full, windows and roofs are crowded. When it becomes time for the parade to start the bells begin to toll and the crowd chants in unison, “Maria, Maria.” A mass of monks and priests pass by; then down the stairs designed by Michael Angelo, which descend the Capitol Hill, comes the main procession: bishops carrying huge candles, then in the gathering twilight comes the centre of all this—a painting of Mary, with a real gold crown superimposed upon her head and a real gold cross swinging from a chain upon her neck. It is lit with a floodlight which moves with it. As it moves down the street, there come the words in adoration like mighty waves, “Maria, Maria, viva Maria.”
The Piazza San Pietro (the great square before the Church of Saint Peter) had barriers erected in it the day before in preparation for the Definition of the Dogma of the Assumption of Mary on Wednesday morning. People begin filing into the unreserved section by midnight. By three, numbers of people are arriving; by four, all the places from which pictures could be taken, are filled. By four also, buses begin to arrive, and adults and children come by thousands. Several hundred arrive all the way from Spain just for this moment. By sunrise, the square is a sea of people. Now a tapestry woven with a picture of Mary is lowered from a balcony of Saint Peter’s, to hang over the throne which has been erected for the Pope on the portico. Soon the announcer begins to speak on the amplifying system. He tells all present how fortunate they are to be here for this important event. At eight-thirty, the procession begins, out of the side door nearest the Sistine Chapel, down the open way which has been kept clear by the strongly erected barriers, almost to the obelisk in the centre of the square; then it turns and comes up the gradual incline until it reaches the portico of Saint Peter’s. The procession takes a full hour to pass. The parade yesterday was nothing by comparison. Monks from many orders, priests clothed in white lace surplices over their black robes, bishops, archbishops and cardinals in red, patriarchs of the Eastern Rites, besides other dignitaries of the Roman Church, showing every possible colour of skin, and all clothed in their richest robes, pass by. Those of the highest rank carry lit candles and their robes are supported by monks and priests. The crowd calls out the names of the better known prelates as they pass. Cardinal Spellman of New York causes more stir than the others. Thousand upon thousand they march by, chanting as they come. The way is lined with armoured Swiss Guards and more modernly clothed Palatine Guards. Here are the Papal Cortes, the Knights of the Cape and Sword, in Elizabethan costumes of black with white ruffs about the neck. The press of the crowd is so great that many women faint. Diplomats from some forty nations are present. In Rome for the occasion are Robert Schumann and Georges Bidault of France; Don Juan, pretender to the Spanish throne; E. B. Eguia, president of the Spanish Cortes; W. Norton, vice-president of Ireland; O. Gagnon, Provincial Treasurer of the Province of Quebec, Canada; and many lesser men of the diplomatic world. How I praise God that no diplomat from my land, the United States, walks meanly in that procession as the Pope rides in grandeur. Since Myron Taylor has been withdrawn as the special representative of the President of the United States, the Vatican studiously ignores the United States’ diplomats to Italy who are stationed in Rome. Now the Pope appears in his canopied chair, carried on the shoulders of men. The triple crown is carried before him. He is crowned with a mitre jewelled with clusters of diamonds and rubies, and clothed in gold and jewel-encrusted cloth, with a splendour no earthly monarch surpasses. During the Holy Year, the Pope has appeared two times each week so that all pilgrims might see him, but this is no ordinary time; everything Rome has is put into this display, for this moment is the high point of this Pope’s life. For this which he will do to-day he will be remembered; undoubtedly he will be known after his death as “The Pope of the Assumption.” When the people see him, over a million voices are raised, “Viva Il Papa.” The sea of people becomes a sea in motion as hats and handkerchiefs are waved. As the Pope passes the Spanish, they cry in unison, “Espana por El Papa.” (Spain for the Pope). On the portico he is helped from the portable throne and sits upon the damask-draped throne erected there. The voices cry, “The Pope is enthroned.” The ceremony begins at nine-thirty, and lasts for almost an hour.
First, the thirty-eight cardinals who are present pass by the Pope, one by one, in order of their precedence; they kneel and do obeisance to him. Now Cardinal Tisserant, the highest ranking cardinal present, asks the Pope “immediately to exercise his ‘supreme judgment’ and declare Mary, our most sweet Mother, to be assumed in body and soul into heaven.” The Pope answers that he wishes first to pray. He kneels and prays aloud for “guidance in this most grave act.” The other dignitaries also kneel, but the people in the square do not, as they are jammed in far too tightly to move. When he arises, the Pope reads a short portion of the Papal Bull on this new Dogma. In this he said in part, “The Church had examined the historical background of the truth to be defined . . . This remarkable unanimity of the Catholic episcopacy and faithful in the matter of the definability of our Lady’s bodily assumption into heaven as a Dogma of faith showed us (the Pope, he speaks of himself in the plural) that the ordinary Teaching Authority of the Church and the belief of the faithful, which it sustains and directs, were in accord and thereby proved with infallible certainty that such a privilege is a truth revealed by God and is contained in the divine deposit which Christ has entrusted to His spouse (the Church) to be guarded faithfully and declared with infallible certainty.”
This official reading marked his speaking ex cathedra, the first time any Pope has done so since 1854, and, more important, the first time since the Pope was declared infallible by the Vatican Council in 1870. When he has finished, the crowds shout until the ears almost burst, “Viva Maria, viva Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria”—over and over and over.
Now the Pope speaks in Italian, “This day marks the definition of the Dogma of the Assumption of the most blessed virgin in body and soul into heaven . . . We give thanksgiving to the loving providence of God who has wished to reserve to you the joy of this day and to us the comfort of placing upon the brow of the mother of Jesus and our mother, Mary, the radiant diadem that crowns her singular privilege . . . There opens to the eyes of this belaboured generation a luminous expanse of sky, glowing with candour and with hope, with blessed life, where is seated next to the sun (s-u-n is the correct spelling here) of justice, Mary, Queen and Mother . . . For a long time invoked this day is ours (the Pope), and finally yours. The voices of the ages, in fact, we would say, the voice of eternity, is ours (the Pope) which with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, has solemnly defined the outstanding privilege of the celestial mother. And it is the cry of the centuries, your cry today which breaks in the vastness of this venerable place, already sacred to the Christian glories, the spiritual harbour of all people, and now the altar of overwhelming piety . . . Under this expansive sky, together with the wave of angelic exultation, in harmony with that of all the militant church, there cannot but descend upon souls a torrent of grace . . . The humble and unknown girl of Nazareth now glorious in heaven . . . We are all sons of the same mother Mary who lives in heaven, a bond of union with the mystical body of Christ, as a new Eve and a new Mother of the living who wishes to lead all men to truth and to the grace of her divine Son.”
The Pope continues and recites the Prayer he has written for this occasion: “O Virgin Immaculate, Mother of God and Mother of mankind. 1—With all the fervour of our faith we believe in your triumphal assumption, soul and body, into heaven, where you are acclaimed Queen by all the choirs of Angels and by all the hosts of Saints; and we unite ourselves to them to praise and bless the Lord, who has exalted you above all creatures, and to offer you the ardour of our devotion and our love. 2—We know that your gaze which on earth caressed with a mother’s love the humble and suffering humanity of Jesus, is satiated now in heaven by the vision of the glorious humanity of the uncreated Wisdom, and that the happiness of your soul, in contemplating the adorable Trinity face to face, makes your heart exult with blessed tenderness; and we, poor sinners, whose aspirations heavenward are checked in flight by the burden of the body, we beseech you to purify our senses, so that we may learn, while here on earth, to taste the sweetness of God, and of God alone, amid the fascination of created things. 3—We trust that your eyes of mercy will look down upon our miseries and sufferings, our struggles and weaknesses; that your lips may smile on our joys and victories, that you may hear the voice of Jesus saying of each one of us as once He said of His beloved disciple: Behold thy son; and we, who call you Mother, take you as did John, for the guide, strength, and consolation of our mortal life. 4—We have the comforting certainty that your eyes, which flowed with tears on the earth bathed by the blood of Christ, are still turned on this world beset by wars, persecutions, and oppression of the just and weak; and we, amid the darkness of this vale of tears, look to your heavenly light for guidance and to your sweet mercy for solace in the sorrows of our hearts and in the tribulations of the Church and our country (he is probably referring here to the “Free State of the Vatican City”). 5—We believe, finally, that in the glory where you reign, clothed with the sun and crowned with the stars, you are, after Jesus, the joy and delight of all the angels and saints; and we from this earth, where we wander as wayfarers, comforted by our faith in the coming resurrection, we look to you, our life, our sweetness, and our hope; draw us on with the gentleness of your voice, to show us one day after our exile, the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.” In its written form he signs this prayer, “PIUS PP. XII” (The “PP.” stands for “Father of Fathers”).
Again the throng breaks out in loud cries; the Sistine Choir flawlessly sings “The Hymn to Our Lady” over and over in many languages; the nearly five hundred Roman Catholic churches in Rome ring their bells in unison; a twenty-one gun salute is sounded from Gianiculum Hill; two thousand doves are released to wheel over the crowds; the Pope pronounces his solemn benediction as his soldiers come to attention; and he disappears into Saint Peter’s to say High Mass. He has reached the pinnacle of his glory; for the first time a Pope has spoken with the whole doctrine of Papal infallibility behind his words; he has had to-day a show of power which by comparison makes the Caesars into humble men. Mary has been called “The Queen of Heaven and Earth” by the voice of a man claiming to speak for God, and for all practical purposes the Roman Catholic Church has a goddess.
When evening falls the spectacle continues; the whole city is illuminated. Standing upon Capitol Hill, one has at his back and right, the Palazzo Senatorio, now the city hall of Rome, which is built over the old Tabularium, erected in 78 B.C. To-night the Palace has hundreds of blazing torches over its cornices, roof and cupola. These torches are shallow pans from which fire rises several feet into the air. Below us is the Mamertine Prison, where Roman Catholic tradition says that Paul and Peter were imprisoned. In age it is old enough to have held Paul when he was in prison in Rome. Off to the left is a church completely outlined in electric lights, and with a huge electric “M” covering its entire facade. In front of us is the ancient Roman Forum. To-night these ruins, reaching back to the time of Christ and before, are all illumined. The Arch of Septimus Severus, erected in 203 A.D., is right before us. The Temple of Saturn, built in 498 B.C., is a little more to the right, with the artificial lights upon it, somehow restoring the ruins to life. This was the most sacred spot in ancient Rome. Over the main square of the Forum is the pavement laid by Caesar Augustus, whose order that all the world should be taxed sent Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. From here began all the roads of the Roman Empire. Then at the back of the Forum rises the Arch of Titus, erected in commemoration of the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Even beyond is the Colosseum, finished by Titus in 80 A.D.; to-night it is lit with bluish-green floodlights and literally thousands of flaming torches. In an instant all time seems telescoped, and before us is a panorama of time. The centuries before Christ, the days of Paul, pagan Rome fallen to be born phoenix-like in Roman Catholicism, the march of the Caesars and the march of the Popes, the worship of the old goddesses, and to-night all this illuminated in honour of a new.
We go on to Saint John Lateran, the fourth of the churches to which pilgrims must go. Usually the great churches of Rome are closed and locked at sunset, but to-night thousands stream in and out seeking special blessings on this important day. Nearby stands the Scala Santa, “The Holy Stairs.” To-night so many hundreds are crawling up on their knees that they look like an ascending carpet slowly moving up it.
The streets and houses are lit with lanterns, every shrine to Mary has its candles and its kneeling people, and Saint Mary Major is a natural centre for veneration on this night. But Saint Peter’s is the focal point. When we come near the square before Saint Peter’s there are obviously more people here to-night than this morning. We step into the crowd and are washed along with the stream of people. Under the arch from Citta Leonina we are swept into the square. If there were one million this morning, there are two million or more to-night, stretching back beyond the Tiber. Here we are in the Free State of the Vatican City, a tiny empire of one hundred and eight acres with its tentacles reaching into almost all the lands of the earth. The United States and the other Allies are responsible for this Vatican State by their honouring, after the fall of Italy in the last war, the Concordat the Pope made with Mussolini in 1929. This Concordat, the Lateran Treaty, was drafted primarily by the present Pope’s brother. To-night this small sovereign state is almost beyond description. The piazza is overlaid solidly with people. On either side are the vast colonnades as planned by the genius Bernini. Over the colonnades are placed at regular intervals one hundred and forty statues of saints. There are innumerable of the flaming torches hanging at different levels along the colonnades, with the statues of the saints flood-lighted above. Saint Peter’s rises beyond, a flood of light, with the high dome of Michael Angelo its crowning glory.
The moving crowd carries us up and into Saint Peter’s. If one seeks earthly glory, it is here to-night. The church, the largest in the world, is lit with thousands of electric candles suspended at many levels, as well as the ceiling being illuminated with indirect lighting so brilliant that the eyes dance from it. Many of the greatest works of painting and sculpture to be found anywhere in the world surround us. Bernini, Michael Angelo, Canova, Raphael, G. Della Porta, Giotto, and others, have poured out their genius here. The crowd flows up and around the front by the huge canopied Papal altar; to-night the Pope’s throne is near here. High above on the left has been placed the flood-lighted picture of Mary which was carried through the streets yesterday. As many as can, kiss the toe on the statue of Peter, but to-night not many can reach it. Now the crowd carries us back toward the exit. As we come near, we hear the Swiss Guards stationed there calling, “Piano, piano” (softly, softly). The crowds are so great people are injured as they are extruded, by the weight of the crowd behind them, out of the doorways. Into the square, down the side, out past the Castel Sant’Angelo, which was begun in 135 by Hadrian. To-night it has a tremendous cross of flaming torches upon it. These shiver and move in the rising wind like some live thing.
The day is done. We go to the station and enter our compartment on the train. How important is this day to the Roman Catholic Church, and how important is it for us to understand what was done? I will let a Roman Catholic priest speak who shares the train compartment with me. He says to me most earnestly, “To-day is the most important day for the Catholic Church in the last two hundred years; probably it is the most important day since the Resurrection.” In so speaking, he expresses what is the general and serious Roman Catholic evaluation of this day.
(To be continued.)